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I am looking for a Windows 10 compatible RDP program (i.e. not X11/VNC based) to allow one laptop to act as a KVM for another. (I looked at the list of RDP software on Wikipedia, but most seemed to be VNC clones and last I checked Windows 10's desktop is not X11 based although you can run VcXserve on top of it for some applications like Emacs.)

I have two Windows 10 laptops side-by-side (but one with a semi-broken keyboard, it works, but sometimes you have to push certain keys more than once for them to register, so I am willing to boot it and type in my password, but don't want to use it for actual typing).

So, I would like to use an RDP program to allow the first one to be used as a keyboard/mouse for the other, but I want both screens to be used. The standard windows RDP utility, closes the screen on the laptop being controlled, showing instead the splash screen. I want two screens, one per laptop, two separate OSes, etc (but would prefer some level of file sharing, although I can live with that being done separately).

I would prefer an Open Source program but am willing to buy commercial software if it has licenses for personal (non-commercial) use within my budget.

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  • Well, there's Dameware and some free VNCs, but why not just purchase a USB keyboard and use that? I have a similar situation where a laptop is slowly dying and the keyboard is one of the many problems, but I'm using it with a USB keyboard plugged into the working USB port.
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Mar 20, 2021 at 13:57
  • I haven't found a USB keyboard with the little mouse button (the "pointer stick") between the ghb keys (and I've been looking for one like that for some 15-20 years). If I do, I will switch to that, but even then I will have two keyboards and not one.
    – intel_chris
    Mar 20, 2021 at 17:21

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Not a true RDP program, but since you're using Windows, you may want to look into the Microsoft Garage project called "Mouse without Borders". This allows you to control up to four computers on a network with a single mouse and keyboard; you can also copy and paste data between them.

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  • This looks close enough to what I want. I will try it. If it works, you are my answer! Thank you. (And by the way, in the end I will probably have 4 computers, so it even has the right limits...
    – intel_chris
    Mar 20, 2021 at 17:23
  • By the way, to get the connectivity I wanted for directories, I simply use the Windows native ability to export and import directories across the network rather than the cut and paste facility provided in "Mouse withou Borders".
    – intel_chris
    Mar 21, 2021 at 9:26
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    That's OK for files, but if I understand it correctly, it's actually sharing the clipboard in such a way that you could also e.g., take a screen shot from one monitor and paste it into Paint or CorelDRAW! or whatever running on a different computer.
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Apr 9, 2021 at 19:31

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